Friends

Tummy Time buddies. June doesn't get very far away from her little buddy :)

The Roll-Away

Think just maybe it's time for a new clutch? Haha

Auntie Zebra feeding little Jackson

 Have a headache??

 Nap time!

New buck

This is our latest edition to the barnyard. He is a boar buck, 6 months old. We got him to breed my Lamancha does.

Chumly

Girls day out

My sisters and I had a girls day in the city  this past Tuesday. We had a lot of fun!

Bubblegum grins

 Claire's-girl heaven

 We hijacked an ice cream truck!

Off Grid Refrigeration

                What power outage???   This is AWESOME!!!!!! I want one lol.
                      

This girl knows her stuff, I hope to be able to do this some day. I like her technique.  

Words of Wisdom For a Fast-Paced World

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, that I had not lived."
~Henry David Thoreau

I was saying

He can't stay cranky forever, right? Well he started screeching again. That leaves me here, holding him and feeding him a bottle with one hand and doing the chicken-peck typing with the other. When "daddy" gets home, "mommy" just might make herself scarce for a few minutes! Lol. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love the little guy. But after three days of this, my back and shoulders really ache! (and my mind lol). I can't believe how fast he is growing though! His little fingers are getting chubby, and he has the cutest little pot-belly! Grampy Osgood calls him a little cusk (fish) on account of his belly. So cute!
   He had his first full bath last week. He cried the whole time. He has had two since then, and really seemed to enjoy them, which made me happy! He didn't cry at all.

  I've done some cooking on the wood cook stove lately. I still have yet to bake bread in it. I've finally put away the Christmas decorations, except the lights because Jackson likes them. I'd love to post more, but he is fussing again. Some time soon I will post something worthwhile, I hope. 'Til then, *see* you later!

 

(Google Images)

Maybe Mondays

Ok, obviously this "mommy Monday" thing isn't working out so well. I surrender. Oh well. But, I will of course blog about Jackson anyway throughout my posts :).
  Like how for the past three days he has been quite contrary and clingy. I feed him, burp him, change his diaper, "play" with him, cuddle him, and he still will not nap well or be content to just be. (unless I'm holding him). I think he may be settling down now. For the past hour and a half he has been happy, then fell asleep. I finally got the dishes washed and some laundry done, that almost loaded its self into the washer for fear of being forgotten. Earlier today I tried to read some of a book I've been wanting to read for over a week now. Jackson finally let me read a page and a half. Only, it took me that long to realize I'd already read that part. *Sigh* But he can't stay crank--

Cutting Grocery Costs

These are just some things I do to try and save on our grocery bill. The Friday before Jackson was born I went grocery shopping. The total was about $135.00. Four weeks have gone by since. It was not my intention, but we had enough food for a whole month, aside from picking up a gallon of milk and a loaf of bread here and there. What with the new baby, car trouble and bad weather I just haven't had the chance to go until this past Saturday. I must say though, it is pretty sad when it gets to the point where one looks forward to getting groceries, just to get out of the house lol. It has been like Little House On The Prairie up here on the hill. Snowed in, or "stranded" at home one way, or the other. It hasn't been too bad though.
Anyway, on with the meaning of this post.
  I saved $35.00 off the bat, with other savings along the way. So I would like to share with you how I've shopped for two, for one month, for around $150.00 (or approximately $37.00/week):

*First, I'm going to start off by saying something that will probably sound crazy. I don't make menus and meal plans. I know, nuts, right? I have tried, several times in the past and have found that it just doesn't work for me. Either the ingredients for a meal get eaten before I make it, or a. b. and c. happens and the menu gets all messed up, then something doesn't get used and then it's wasted and I end up frustrated. So, now I just make a list of needed items, and think of some things we may want to eat for the next whatever. I usually don't get very specific with what the meals will be, as I do with having some key ingredients on hand to make a variety of dishes. 

Here I have laid out all the food I bought this last trip (just for you guys!) to give you an idea how much I bought for roughly $150.00

The steps I took for this haul were as follows:

1. Look through store flyers for deals. You can do this online as well as from the local papers.
2. Compare apples to apples. (No pun intended). I compared the prices of store brand items from different stores and with prices from Sam's Club (which you can also do online). I realize that not everyone can go to a Sam's club, and not all these tips will work for everyone. I'm just sharing what we do to try to save money, and hope that maybe there is a little something here for each of you to take away and apply where you can.
3. Make a list. I took note of staples and other things we were out of/low on. Some things I buy at least one of no matter what. For example, I always buy at least one pound of butter. Even if I already have some in the fridge, and don't plan on making a lot of dishes that call for it, I buy it anyway. Then I just toss it in the freezer for a rainy day or for that impromptu batch of cookies. :) 

4. Make a plan. Knowing what stops you need to make and in what order before you go helps save time and wasted gas. I often like a buy it, bag it, bring it home approach. Although, sometimes I like to take my time and smell the coffee! (which is free now at Mcdonald's until the 7th). But, a word of caution: the more time you spend dilly dallying in the store, the more likely you are to spend more money on things you don't need, and that weren't on your list. Which totally defeats the purpose of cutting grocery costs.

5. The "golden rule" of grocery shopping is to not shop when you're hungry. It works, lol.
6. Buy in bulk. While comparing prices, I found that most of the items we use on a regular basis are cheaper in larger quantities. This generally holds true for most foodstuffs, but make sure to check the prices, it isn't always the case.
7. Only pay for food, not commercials. Most name brand products are more expensive due to advertising and isn't any better than the store brands. (those Quaker Oats you see were cheaper per pound than the Hannaford ones) but again, check prices.
Here is a run-down of some of the goods I was able to buy:

• 10 lbs oats-use for oatmeal, granola, bread, stretching ground beef
• 25 lbs flour
• 10 lbs sugar
• 5 lbs peanut butter
• 5 lbs mozzarella cheese
• 7 lbs brown sugar
• 6 lbs pasta
• 2 lbs rice
• 1 lb beans
• 3 lbs carrots
• 4 lbs frozen veggies-nutritional value is almost as good as fresh veggies, and they last longer and are usually cheaper
• sprouts 
• fresh mushrooms
• 5 lbs onions
• 2 lbs butter
• 4 gallons milk-pour out 1-2 cups milk in a smaller container for immediate use and freeze the rest
• Almost 3 lbs steak

I don't buy meat unless it has one of these lovely markdown stickers. I bought this package of steak, broke it down and froze it. But right now, we have a freezer full of pork and some chicken from our farm animals, so the only thing I look for is beef.

Other food-related money saving tips:

• Clean out the fridge/freezer. Cleaning out what is no good and wiping down shelves also gives you the opportunity to see what you are low on/ what you need to add to your list. I try to do this the day before I get groceries.
• Know what you have. If you already know that you have two bottles of soy sauce, you won't needlessly buy another one.
• Date it. I have been writing the date on things like jars of spaghetti sauce with a Sharpie the day I open it. We don't need a full jar of sauce for one meal with just the two of us, and I don't want to have to throw it out later because I have no idea how old it is ("is that mold, or spices?")
• Trash it. I used to save the empty cottage cheese containers and the like to store leftovers in. Why throw out a perfectly good container, right? Then I figured I'd rather toss the empty container than wait for it to be full of bad food and then throw it away. I would look in the fridge and see the "cottage cheese", forgetting it was chili or shepherd's pie. Not to mention, I wouldn't buy the cheese because I thought I already had some!
• Get creative. I am getting better at this with time, but try thinking of ways to make a host of unrelated leftovers into one more dish of some sort in order to use it up.
• Vegetarian, anyone? Meats are pricey. Try making more meatless meals. You can use beans as an alternative source of protein.
• Make your own. What's the better deal, $1.29 for a 7 oz box of mac & cheese, or .99cents for a lb of macaroni and pennies for a handful of real cheese? 
• Eat out less. Really, that's it. 
• Go without, at least some of the time. We hardly ever eat dessert, sugary foods tend to cost more money, and unhealthy calories. I usually have banana muffins or the like to snack on with a cup of tea before bed.
• Clip out those good ole coupons. Look for coupons for items you already buy, otherwise, you're not really saving that .50 cents.
• Go reusable. Some stores charge for the plastic shopping bags. Invest in some good cloth ones, you can throw them in the wash and live a little greener. (Then the trick is to actually remember to take them with you!)
• Grow your own. Right now, as I said we have a freezer full of meat. We also have 100 lbs of potatoes (that we actually got from a fellow farmer) by the door that will last us a long time.

   Hannaford:$78.88

+Sam's Club:$72.72

Total: $151.60

I hope this was helpful. Have a great night y'all!!!! Happy saving!